10 unforgettable dishes from the subsidy period

(Baonghean.vn) - The subsidy period was a difficult time and also a time that left many impressions in the hearts of those who lived during that period. The subsidy period with grain noodles, commercial rice, braised loach with Chinese plums, and ration stamps will be memories of a not-so-distant subsidy period.

1. Noodles cooked instead of rice

Noodles are a type of grain that the Soviet Union and some other countries provided to Vietnam during the period of food shortage. There are two types of noodles, one with the shell intact, and the other with the shell removed. During the subsidy period, there was very little rice, so noodles were soaked and cooked instead of rice, or more luxuriously, cooked with black beans. In addition, people also pounded noodles into flour to make cakes. Photo: Internet

2. Rice mixed with potatoes and cassava

Due to the severe shortage of rice, rice mixed with potatoes, cassava, etc. became the "companion" of most families in Vietnam during the subsidy period. At mealtime, the white rice grains were only scooped up for the elderly and children. Some families also mixed them together, but each person only had 1-2 small bowls and not much. Photo: Internet

3. Crispy rice with braised shrimp

Today, burnt rice is often discarded after family meals, but during the subsidy period, it was also a delicious dish when eaten with fish sauce. Burnt rice eaten with shrimp or dried fish... was also a delicious dish at that time. Photo: Internet

4. Mixed vegetables cooked with field crab

Mixed vegetables, also known as rau lao nao, are a mixture of all kinds of wild vegetables such as amaranth, purslane, jute... found in home gardens or any bushes. In the past, vegetables were very rare, and the garden grew all kinds of things, so when coming home from work, people would take the opportunity to go to the garden to pick a handful of mixed vegetables to cook soup with field crabs and eat with rice, which was great. Photo: Internet

5. River shrimp braised with star fruit

During the subsidy period, meat and fish were not abundant and expensive, while river shrimp were cheap and much easier to find, and were a very important source of protein in the old meals. So every time a bunch of river shrimp was caught, it was considered a decent meal. The most popular way to prepare shrimp is to stir-fry with star fruit and eat with hot rice. Photo: Internet

6. Boiled jackfruit seeds

Nowadays, jackfruit seeds are rarely eaten, but are only used for animal feed or thrown in the trash, but during the subsidy period, they were a familiar dish. Every time you pick jackfruit, after eating it all, save the jackfruit seeds, wash them, boil them, eat them separately, or mix them with rice, they are very delicious and fragrant. Sometimes there are too many, so you dry them and store them for later use. Photo: Internet

7. Eggplant with soy sauce

A plate of eggplant dipped in soy sauce was never missing from a meal during the subsidy period. Eggplant dipped in soy sauce is now a side dish, but in the past it was the "main" dish that helped to add rice to the meals of many rural Vietnamese families. Photo: Internet

8. Peanut and melon soup

During the subsidy period, in the countryside, every house had a jar of eggplant and a jar of pickles in the kitchen corner. When the pickles were almost gone, they were taken out and cooked with crushed raw peanuts to make a sweet and sour soup with an unforgettable fatty taste. Back then, just using the peanuts that had just been picked up from the newly harvested fields, a pot of delicious soup was made to improve the frugal meals for the whole family.

9. Pickled cassava tops

During the subsidy period, cassava was grown in abundance, not only in the mountains but also in the plains. It was grown in the fields, in the gardens, and on the banks of ponds. During the difficult times, there was a shortage of rice and vegetables, so rice was mixed with corn, cassava was more abundant than rice, and vegetables were grown in the home garden. Young cassava shoots were also used to make pickles, but with the added sweet and nutty flavor of pickled cassava leaves.

10.Morning glory with soy sauce

During the subsidy period, pond water spinach was raised in rafts or planted in ditches full of water, without any irrigation, the shoots were big, young and fatty, boiled and dipped in homemade soy sauce, making it both crispy and sweet. Every time I opened the jar of fragrant soy sauce in the corner of the porch, I wanted to go out to the pond to pick a bunch of water spinach for a simple yet elegant meal.

Peace